algae

[seapony]

moved from a 55 gal to an 85 gal bow front tank with a sump system, about a month ago. I added a helo light system for my corals, about 3 weeks ago. this brought the wattage up to 360. I'm having problems now with algae on my glass, etc... was running my light s for 12 hours a day 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. am going to drop to 8 hrs a day. I.m running a protien skimmer in my sump, and have been doing a 10 gal water change weekly, just cant seem to slow down the algae. I feed twice daily . flakes and frozen. any suggestions?????????????

Seapony

 

[snapcrackler]

I have one good sized lawnmower blenny and about 40 snails in my 55sw and they really tear up the algae. You could buy 40-60 turbo snails and a couple of blennies and just watch them go to town. The lawnmozers are quite humorous to watch too, they chomp all over everything leaving "kissy marks" in the algae film. They eat diatoms too I guess. My guys are taking care of a brown algae bloom right now. Hope this helps a little. -Erik

 

[seapony]

Thanks. Know of any good on line stores. the lfs in my area suck

 

[snapcrackler]

I got some great reef janitors from www.garf.org he will give them to you on special for $1 each plus ship I think if you ask nice, also I was looking at liveaquaria.com because they are part of drsfostersmith.com which is a really great online supplier in my opinion, but I have not ordered live stuff from them yet, I would be very comfortable doing so though. I think the cheapest bet might be through garf though. I got 41 reg leg hermits and 41 various snails from them at $1 each and they are all very robust (fun to watch the crab battles too....) 8O I hope this helps a little... also from time to time I see turbo (astrea) snails on ebay so I spose if you found a seller with an awesome profile you would be good to go there too. Garf gaurantees their livestock to arrive alive too and they pack it in styrofoam and stuff.

 

[ReefLady]

What kind of water are you using - tap water or RO/DI?

What are you nitrate, phosphate, and silicate test readings?

 

[snapcrackler]

Reeflady is right I have been reading up a lot on diatom blooms and stuff and althought my crabs, snails and Blenny make short work of it, it is a good idea to check those levels and also use an RO unit for your make up water from what I have been reading. Every time I use my well water to make up or top off, it seems like the bloom rears it's head a little for me. My tank has just finished initial cycling, a couple months old or 3, soooo.. aha... maybe my well water has bunch of silicates or something in it. Time for me to try an RO unit as a first step and go from there. also here is one of the links I was reading. http://saltaquarium.about.com/b/a/001466.htm
Thanks and peace

 

[seapony]

Yes I have an ro/di system I use to make my salt water. My nitrate level is between 20 and 40 . need to check the phospate level again but it was fine last I cheked

 

[seapony]

thanks . Just ordered a kit from garf.com The guy was real helpful and I cant believe the prices. The rats down here want $3.00 to $4.00 per snail.I told the guy I wanted them for my tank not supper.

 

[seapony]

thanks. I ordered a ro/di system from aquariumwaterfilters.com I got the baracuda model. It works great I use to make my salt water and also for drinking water etc... easy to install and the people there are very knowledgable about their product. I live on the third floor and got tired of lugging 5 gal jugs up the stairs :x

 

[fire goby]

it will disappear after the silicate is exhausted in the tank. the only thing one has to be careful is when the replacement of water....